When a politician has been in office for a while, we look to his record when he comes up for re-election. From that, we can judge if the official deserves to be re-elected, or if someone new should be given a shot at the job.

In reviewing the record of the Winder Mayor’s office, it’s clear that someone new should be given a chance at the seat.

If there was any doubt that a new direction in Winder’s leadership is needed, one only has to look at the recent fiasco over the city’s move to purge 40 percent of the city’s registered voters, a move that was rife with mishandling and errors.

Winder Mayor Chip Thompson is largely responsible for that snafu.

He sets the tone and the standard for what happens in city hall. The buck stops on his desk.

If the voting mess had been Thompson’s only leadership mistake, perhaps citizens would give it a pass.

But Thompson’s record as mayor is one of arrogant leadership and multiple misjudgments.

Here’s his record:

•In 2009, Thompson refused to follow state law in how the city adopted its budget. When a woman asked the mayor at a meeting why the city wasn’t following the law, Thompson accused her of playing “some little word search.” In addition, Thompson’s right-hand city manager at the time said to her, “If you are looking for an opportunity to sit there and do a conversation or have input back and forth between citizens and the council and the mayor, that does not happen.” In other words, citizens shouldn’t dare question “King” Thompson.

•In 2010, Thompson held several illegal secret meetings. When this newspaper questioned that, the mayor shot back by saying the Journal was a “tabloid” for daring to question his authority. Thompson essentially set the city budget in secret and doesn’t believe citizens should have any say in the process. Illegal meetings don’t seem to bother him.

•Also in 2010, Thompson accused a council member of “overstepping your bounds” when a councilman wanted to know about the hiring process and salary range for a new city administrator. Thompson was upset that the city council wanted to have some say in the hiring process of the town’s administrator. Thompson later made that hiring decision without full city council input (one councilman did sit in on the meetings, but Thompson wouldn’t allow him to take resumes out of city hall); and he refused to release the top three candidate names 14 days in advance as required by state law. Even worse, after hiring someone, he refused for several days to tell his own city council whom he had hired.

•Thompson presented the Winder council a wastewater plan one night in 2010, and then lied to the council by saying he needed immediate action that night to meet a federal deadline. But there was no immediate deadline. What Thompson really wanted was for the council to rubber-stamp his plan before it had time to study the matter or ask questions.

•Thompson pressured the city council to quickly approve a 40-year, $4.9 million loan to build large new city facilities, again saying there was an immediate deadline and that the council had to act that night. But again, there was no deadline. The council eventually overturned that action and ordered the mayor to cancel the loan. But Thompson didn’t take action to follow the council’s directive until last month.

•Last year, Thompson gave the council a new engineering contract to approve for the city without the council even knowing a new contract was in the works. It was another example of how he tried to pressure the council into a quick action with incomplete information.

•Thompson presented a storm water tax for the council to vote on at one August 2010 meeting, again claiming there was a deadline and the issue couldn’t wait. Alas, the mayor was again lying to his council about a deadline. It was a bid by Thompson to pressure the council to act before it could look into the matter further. The mayor tried to ram through the new tax with no public hearings and no advance notice. After the Journal reported on the matter, a strong public backlash stopped it.

It is very clear from his record that Thompson views the mayor’s job as a petty dictatorship. He does not think the mayor should consult his city council before making major decisions and he abhors any kind of public input in city government. He strongly resents media coverage of the city government, actively holding secret meetings to avoid news coverage. Even worse, he has a track record of having misled his council multiple times about phantom deadlines that really didn’t exist.

Winder needs a change in its mayor’s seat. Chip Thompson is a nice man who comes across as an easy-going public official. But his actual record is very clear — he wants to run Winder without any input from his own city council or the public.

Based on his record as mayor, Chip Thompson is not a man who can be trusted. The ballot box is the place to send him a message about his record.
Mike Buffington is co-publisher of the Barrow Journal. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.

Has anyone wondered how many city council meetings Mr. Buffington has attended? Am thinking, that's about ZERO . . . so he's getting his info from disgruntled council members who have an axe to grind....would be prudent journalism to research and get the FACTS before publishing...otherwise, the Barrow Journal is nothing but a sensational seeking rag like the National Observer...just way, way smaller scale. It's viability as an unbiased reporting source doesn't exist.

Well documented Mike,but you left out a couple. I'm sure the thirty ex- employees Chip and Bob laid off in 2009 would put this one high on the list. And the fact that the city council had no input (probably no knowledge) of this before it happened.Pretty good example of total rule. And the infamous settlement costing $150,000 for the sexual harassement, laying off of another employee in 2009. This also happened without the knowledge of city council. And the offending party still works at city hall making close to $100k a year. I could go on and on.

Right on. When Chip first took office I needed to talk with him about a problem. He wouldn't return e-mails or phone calls. I even went to City Hall and he sent word by his secretary that he was busy and didn't have time to talk. I remember thinking that 4 years is not that long. Maybe David will talk with me.

If Chip did all these things against the law, why has he not been penalized, arrested or removed from office ? I want to know because this might be a good example of what to do to politicians who think they have total control, whether at the BOC, BOE or any municipality.

Many of the actions were civil, not criminal issues. Unless a citizen files a suit, there is not real legal recourse. Also, in Georgia, removing a public official from office is virtually impossible to do. Recalls are not possible under the current law. About the only way to fix a problem with an elected official is at the ballot box.

You are incorrect that recalls are "not possible."
In fact, they are if malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance can be shown. The bar is high, but it is incorrect to say recalls are "not possible." If you'll check history of Barrow, recalls were completed upon several commissioners over the vote to approve construction of a new hospital in the 1980s.

Mike is correct, an elected official can easier be arrested for criminal activity while in office than they can be recalled.

The laws have been significantly changes since the 80's. The process and having a judge rule before the process can move forward makes the bar very high. Some areas have tried, almost all have failed...easier to have them arrested and convicted than recalled.

There is indeed a legal process for recall, but the rules have been changed over the years such that it's virtually impossible to do a recall now. In any event, a recall would not apply to the subject of this article anyway.

Ole chipper and his prissy cronies must go. We ain't got the time or money for anymore nonsense. The folks with real skills that get things done will carry on like they always have. Let the "Chips" fall where they may!!

You are incorrect. It is that easy, all you need is just cause and they have plenty of just cause - and will soon have majority to fire her and a couple more. That's the point of the article. Thompson and Wall defied the City's Charter which is just cause. The only reason Wall is still in her job is the votes. The council is deadlocked 3-3 but that will soon all change.

My, oh my . . . so easy to slander and throw stones when you can remain anonymous . . . cowards all who stoop to backstabbing. Mayor Thompson has worked long and diligently to IMPROVE the City of Winder and his record cannot be compared to previous Mayor Ouzts, who was a part-time mayor and spent less than 2-3 hours at city hall on any given day...after all, he had a busines to run--as does David Maynard...who I'm betting will relinquish mayoral duties to the city manager and hardly ever show up at city hall the way our current mayor has done..... Shame on all of you when you should be giving thanks for a hard working man like Chip Thompson!!!

If it were left to the Mayor to run Winder we would be in the middle of a lawsuit because of the sewer issues in Dreamland. He's incompetent and needs to go - and will go. And you will go with him......

If Chip had relinquish his mayoral duties to someone that knows how to run a business. Maybe we wouldn't be in the boat we are now. Remember Chip has always been a government employe and never worked in the private sector that I know of. He has always reached into us working folks pockets for his pay check.

Mark Twain: It has become a sarcastic proverb that a thing must be true if you saw it in a newspaper. That is the opinion intelligent people have of that lying vehicle in a nutshell. But the trouble is that the stupid people -- who constitute the grand overwhelming majority of this and all other nations -- do believe and are moulded and convinced by what they get out of a newspaper, and there is where the harm lies.
- "License of the Press," speech, 31 March 1873